Jeopardy! LIVE!

[jlgarfield]

Here is something that crossed my mind now: I attended Wheel of Fortune Live! for the second time last week, and this had me thinking:

If WoF Live! can be successful, why not have Jeopardy! LIVE!? I know that my chances of getting chosen to play on such a live show would be, well, as good as the Dodgers winning the World Series (in other words, better than the Browns winning the Super Bowl), and I know quite a bit.

Would you attend a J! Live! stage show? (A while ago, I did discuss about Press Your Luck LIVE! - which I think should be done. )

[inturnaround]

I think there's at least a couple reasons why.

1) You'd need to write a lot of clues in order to make this an ongoing concern. You wouldn't really want to repeat clues either.

2) You'd either need to do some kind of pre-test to vet contestants to make sure you're not going to get blank stares after every clue reveal and that takes time or you blind cast folks and risk the whole thing being triple stumpers.

3) It's likely a bit more involved a production with the video wall being an element. You'd essentially be producing it as the tv series due to those video elements minus the cameras and having someone enable the signaling devices, and someone to rule on unexpected answers. All of that eats into profit.

[BrandonFG]

Your audience for a Wheel or Price Live Show is of pretty average intelligence. That’s not a bad thing, but I imagine they would have to dumb down the material considerably if you’re picking people from the audience. Big difference between average Joes playing Hangman or identifying the price of items, versus knowing who wrote The Scarlet Letter.

Conversely, I’m not so sure having a runaway contestant would be as interesting for a Live show either. You kinda want equal playing ground.

[Kevin Prather]

Also remember these live shows tend to be frequent fixtures in casinos, and the participants may very well be a few drinks in.

[DoItRockapella]

I think it's worth noting at this point that Michael Davies has been saying for at least a year that he is trying to launch all sorts of extensions of the Jeopardy brand - a nationwide tour of the Inside Jeopardy podcast, Jeopardy-branded bar trivia, etc..

There have been a handful of Inside Jeopardy Live events, but no nationwide tour. Jeopardy-branded bar trivia has yet to materialize.

Taking all that into account, and adding in all the points Joe, Brandon, and Kevin mentioned, I think a Jeopardy Live tour in the vein of TPIR Live or WOF Live is highly unlikely to happen.

On the other hand, the OP also mentioned PYL Live - that sounds to me like it would actually work, and I believe has been done on some cruise ships.

[Kevin Prather]

PYL Live is the obvious next choice, yes.

Not to say that a Jeopardy Live show could never happen, but it would be done VERY differently.

[BrandonFG]

Jeopardy-branded bar trivia, etc..

A few months ago we went to a local brewery that had a J!-themed game. It was interesting how they played it...like with bar trivia you had teams, although I'm sure you could've played as an individual. Instead of buzzing in, each team wrote down their response if they knew it; if you didn't know you just sat that one out. If you got it wrong the points were deducted. I can't remember how the host decided who chose the next clue, but I wanna say he simply chose a team at random based on who answered the last clue correctly.

Final J! was played the way you might expect, with everyone writing down their response with a wager.

If you've ever been to bar trivia, you know it can get loud and difficult to hear so it was a bit of a challenge. But we had fun, and I could see an official J! bar trivia working with a few streamlined changes. Honestly, I'd probably make it to where you either read the clues in order or let the computer pick them at random.

[parliboy]

Michael Davies kinda thinks of Jeopardy as a sport; and so to that extent, you have regular season games and playoff games and all-star games.

By that extension, would people be interested in paying to watch the level of play that exists at a local level?  Knowing that names are drawn randomly?

I personally don't think I'd enjoy that too much.

[TLEberle]

Personally I would like to see the show return to having road shows on location as part of the schedule first.

[inturnaround]

J! has a deal with Geeks Who Drink to roll out a Bar Trivia version soon.

Personally I would like to see the show return to having road shows on location as part of the schedule first.

I think the thing that's probably keeping that from happening would be a network partner who would want to fund it. They aren't going to do it for their postseason tournaments and things like Power Players Week isn't really a thing any longer. I suppose you could do it for Celebrity J!, but would that pop the ratings any versus what it would cost to bring the show back out on the road?

On the other hand, the OP also mentioned PYL Live - that sounds to me like it would actually work, and I believe has been done on some cruise ships.

I know it's at least on the NCL Viva and the photos I've seen are pretty great looking.

[DoItRockapella]

J! has a deal with Geeks Who Drink to roll out a Bar Trivia version soon.

I've heard that, but it's been "in the works" long enough that I have my doubts it will ever actually happen.

I know it's at least on the NCL Viva and the photos I've seen are pretty great looking.

If I have it right, Beat The Clock Live and Supermarket Sweep Live have both also been done on NCL ships. Like PYL Live, neither of those has ever toured. I don't know how you'd recreate Supermarket Sweep in a theater on a cruise ship.

Maybe Fremantle (or Sony) could try a tour combining elements and games from many of their game shows? You could call it Buzzr Live (or if it's Sony, GSN Live).

[inturnaround]

If I have it right, Beat The Clock Live and Supermarket Sweep Live have both also been done on NCL ships. Like PYL Live, neither of those has ever toured. I don't know how you'd recreate Supermarket Sweep in a theater on a cruise ship.

Maybe Fremantle (or Sony) could try a tour combining elements and games from many of their game shows? You could call it Buzzr Live (or if it's Sony, GSN Live).

I don't think I've ever seen any photos of BTC or Supermarket Sweep on the ships, but I had heard they were working on them. BTC is an odd one as it's not really a well know game brand any more.

NCL, though, did introduce Wheel of Fortune Interactive this year where cruisers can play on stage or in the audience with their mobile devices. They seem to have really gone all in on licensed games.

[TimK2003]

Your audience for a Wheel or Price Live Show is of pretty average intelligence. That’s not a bad thing, but I imagine they would have to dumb down the material considerably if you’re picking people from the audience. Big difference between average Joes playing Hangman or identifying the price of items, versus knowing who wrote The Scarlet Letter.

Conversely, I’m not so sure having a runaway contestant would be as interesting for a Live show either. You kinda want equal playing ground.

A J! Live show could work on the college circuit if you open the eligible audience contestant pool to current university students, faculty and alumni.  That would reduce at least the chance for  consistent blank stares from the lesser-educated contestants mentioned above.

Also gives the tour producers an opportunity to scout out potential College Tournament contestants when those weeks come up on TV.

[BrandonFG]

A J! Live show could work on the college circuit if you open the eligible audience contestant pool to current university students, faculty and alumni.  That would reduce at least the chance for  consistent blank stares from the lesser-educated contestants mentioned above.  Also gives the producers to scout out potential College Tournament contestants when those weeks come up on TV.

This all just came to me in the last few minutes. You honestly wouldn't even have to go that far. When I bought tickets to TPiR Live, I had the option to go as a spectator or a potential contestant. If you wanna be a J! Live contestant, you could take a very brief exam in advance (let's say 15 clues) and if you get at least 10 right you're entered into the pool where your name could be drawn. It could be three columns from an old episode or 15 random clues.

But even that seems a little too formal because I just don't know if this is enjoyable enough to fill the same theater or casino that Wheel or TPiR Live fills. It's just so much more of a niche game.